


A Place in Time

by The_Cuddly_Cactus



Category: The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, F/M, Family Drama, M/M, Minor Character Death, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-02
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-08-14 18:00:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16497515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Cuddly_Cactus/pseuds/The_Cuddly_Cactus
Summary: A sudden string of infant warlocks have gone missing. The institutes best are looking into the murders, along with High Warlock, Magnus Bane.As the string of missing children strains relations between the Shadowhunters and the Downworld, things complicate further when two children show up at the institute looking for Magnus and Alec.***The children looked soaked through with the rain water, like they had been dragged through Edom and back. But Alec forced himself to look past that. He looked at the children closer. A shadowhunter and a warlock, too young to be on their own.And the warlock child was dying.Blood flowed freely from his blue skin, his skin getting paler by the second.The older boy looked at Alec, " Please, help us."





	1. Privilege

Alec was exhausted. Going up to the steps to Magnus’ loft, he wasn’t sure he was going to make it all the way. Then again, the arms supporting him were going to make sure of it, practically dragging him up the steps. Alec felt like he was going to vomit from all the jostling. But that could just be the demon poison.

The group had been out on a hunt. Three ravener demons had ambushed them on patrols. He had let an arrow fly at one to protect Jace and had left his left exposed. That was when it had struck.

“C’mon Alec, stay awake, dammit!” that sounded like Jace. Alec hadn’t realised he was losing consciousness.

Now at the top of the stairs, Alec could see the hazy outline of his boyfriend, High Warlock, Magnus Bane.

“Get him inside, now,” Magnus’ voice sounded far away. He could barely focus on his voice.

“Alexander, can you hear me? Alec?” he sounded urgent, but not panicked. Magnus was always good at keeping his emptions hidden at times like this. He would save the panicking and reprimanding for when he knew Alec could pay attention to his scolding.

 Alec tried to say something, tried to tell him he was okay. All he managed was, “Mags.”

Alec felt his vision blur further and then he was gone.

*** 

Alec blinked his eyes open slowly, taking in the familiar silk sheets, long hanging drapes and elaborate décor that was Magnus’ bedroom. The warlock himself was looking down at him with a frown.

“I was hoping you would sleep for longer,” he whispered.

Alec hummed, not wanting to talk. He felt a little nauseous and lightheaded from his bout with the demon poison. Magnus didn’t look like he was faring much better than Alec himself was. He looked exhausted and Alec knew the warlock had probably drained a substantial amount of his magic to heal him.  He had dark circles under his eyes, making his features look more drawn out. They both needed more rest, so for the moment, he was happy to just sit and bask in the concern of his lover. The apartment seemed quiet, so he assumed that the team had went home. Alec could imagine the battle that had taken on Magnus’ part to make his _parabatai_ leave.

Magnus moved closer, wrapping Alec in his arms.

They sat like that for a long time, not saying a word. Alec knew that Magnus needed to be reassured that he was okay, that he was there. Dating a shadowhunter was never going to have been easy. They both knew that. They made quite the pair, the Head of the New York Institute and the High Warlock of Brooklyn. But here in their little bubble, it didn’t matter who they were outside of this room. They were just Alec and Magnus, two boyfriends in love.

Alec let out a contented sigh. “Magnus?”

Magnus looked down at him and Alec’s breath was taken away at the intensity that always came with looking at Magnus’ startling green-gold cat eyes. They were beautiful. “Yes, Alexander?”

Alec could feel the blush rise to his cheeks, as always did when he asked Magnus this question. “Can I stay here tonight? I don’t want to go back to the Institute just yet,” Alec said softly, “if it’s okay.”

The warlock’s eyes softened, and Alec’s heart constricted. “You’re always welcome here. For as long as you want to stay.”

They drifted into silence and Alec could hear Magnus’ breathing slowly start to even out, letting Alec know he had fallen asleep. Not long after, Alec followed, lulled to sleep by the tiredness in his bones and the sound of his lover’s breathing.

 ***

Magnus woke to the sound of hushed voices. Rolling over onto his back, he saw Alexander sitting on the edge of the bed, on the phone to who he could assume was one of his angelic brethren.

Alec noticed he had woken up and gave him an apologetic smile. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. Yes, I’ll bring him.” With that he hung up the phone, looking back at Magnus.

Magnus stretched out on the bed, before looking back at Alec, lazily raising an eyebrow at him. The blush reaching down Alec’s neck gave away that he had been ogling his warlock. Magnus lips quirked up at that.

“Are we going somewhere, angel?”

Alec was already up and grabbing the fresh clothes on the chair that Magnus ad left for him. Magnus thought he looked gorgeous in the early morning light. The sun bounced across his skin, making it look golden, his black hair was a stark contrast against his skin and when he turned to look at Magnus, his eyes were bright and looked a hundred shades of blue all at once.

“I’m needed at the institute and they need a warlocks opinion. I don’t know much yet, except that it’s urgent. Jace didn’t want to waste time,” Alec frowned, “is it okay? You don’t have any clients today, it’s not an issue?”

Always so concerned he wasn’t intruding on Magnus’ responsibilities.

“I’m free for the day, Alexander. I took the day off in case you hadn’t fully healed. As much as I would like you to rest some more, I know it won’t happen,” Magnus stood and with a wave of his hand, he had an array of outfits in front of him, “So no, it is not an issue.” He hummed to himself as he picked out a pair of leather trousers, a deep purple boho shirt with a golden intricate pattern, layered on a few gold chains and applied a healthy amount of makeup, lining his eyes in black liner and a dose of purple glitter.

He turned to see Alec staring at him in his plain black jeans, a soft, worn navy jumper with holes for his thumbs and his combat boots. Plain and simple was his style, but there was nothing plain or simple about his Alexander.

With a dramatic flourish of his hand, a portal appeared next to Magnus, “Shall we go, darling?”

Alec just smiled as he stepped forward.

***

They made their way to Alec’s office, where Jace, Izzy and Clary were talking amongst themselves. The tension in the room was like a live wire and they both picked up on it immediately. Jace was looking out the window, Clary was pacing the small space back and forth an Izzy as always, looked composed as ever, sitting in an armchair with her arms crossed and hair flipped over one shoulder. But Magnus could see the slight darkness under her eyes, the tension that coiled under her skin, meaning she was ready to spring into action at any moment, despite her almost lazy posture.

Something was wrong.

Skipping the pleasantries, Alec got straight to the point, “Fill me in.”

Clary looked down at her feet, avoiding his eyes. Izzy’s gaze switched from Alec to Magnus and back again. Jace had turned and looked Alec straight in the eye and Magnus could feel Alec’s apprehension worsened.

“We found an infant body in a back alley on patrols this morning, extremely mutilated,” his eyes flitted to Magnus as he said quietly, “a warlock infant.”

Magnus released a breath and shut his eyes. He took a moment to process the information before he set his emotions aside and he was the High Warlock of Brooklyn, a man with centuries of experience in the field of dead downworlders.

“Show me the body.” There was no room for argument in his tone. This was no longer the Claves jurisdiction.

Jace lead the way to the infirmary. A body would typically be placed in the Silent City, but not that of a downworlder. They were not deemed worthy of the Silent City.

Walking into the room, the warlock could feel the residue of a young warlock’s energy. He walked to the centre of the room, where a body was covered by a sheet. Magnus removed the sheet and examined the child. The body was tiny. He couldn’t have been more than two years old. The child had green skin and little talons in place of his fingers.

Jace hadn’t been talking lightly when he said the infant had been extremely mutilated. His skin was ashen even in death. He had suffered blood loss, the child’s skin had deep gashes, his eyes had been taken from their sockets and he was missing talons. It looked like they had been cut off.

Magnus had to take a step back. He felt as though he was going to vomit. This child, this _baby_ had been cut up to the point he doubted the child was recognisable. This was one of this own. One of his kind. There was no mistaking that this child had been targeted for being a warlock. It was his features that marked his as a Child of Lilith that had been mutilated. His green skin, ragged and cut, his eyes that Magnus would be willing to bet hadn’t looked human, his talons. A child of two years wouldn’t have been able to glamour his marks. He probably hadn’t even understood what he was.

Yet he had paid the price for his heritage like so many others of his kind.

Magnus turned and left the room.

He heard the others follow, but he didn’t stop until he was back in Alec’s office, sat in a chair opposite the desk.

The others came in behind him and haphazardly sat themselves down. Magnus could feel their gazes on him.

He spoke deliberately quietly, “This child was killed for being a warlock. For nothing more than his heritage.”

Alec hesitated. “Are you sure, Magnus?”

Magnus’ head snapped up and he met Alec’s eyes dead on, “Yes, I am sure. If there is one thing I understand about the Shadow World, Alexander, that is the cruelty brought on downworlders for what they are. Warlocks don’t often live past infancy for one reason or another. Their mothers realise what they are, realise the man in their bed was not their husband. Their child is that of the devil and they either kill them themselves or leave them to the elements, defenceless. Or they are found by shadowhunters that do not abide by the Accords. So yes, Alexander, I am quite sure the motive of this murder was one of race.”

Alec let out a shaky breath, but it was Jace who responded.

“If it was a mundane mother, we have little chance of finding them. If this was done by another member of the Shadow World, then we have a better chance of finding them. But if it is, the Law would call for the downworlder to be put to death, but if it was a shadowhunter…”

Jace left the sentence unfinished, but they all knew what he wasn’t saying. A shadowhunter would not be brought forth by the Law. The Accords may protect downworlders, but the shadowhunters would not sentence one of their own to death for the death of a single downworlder child.

“It would be bold. The Clave is already on the brink of war with the downworld with the actions of the circle. It would not be a smart move to cover up the death of one of my kind.”

Alec didn’t fail to pick up on Magnus’ tone or his word choice. _My_ kind.

“Magnus is right and we will do everything we can to help. Jace, go back to the scene, see what else you can get from it. Take Clary with you,” Alec gave his orders and then turned to Izzy, “Speak to your contacts in the downworld, find out what you can.” Then he turned to Magnus, “I don’t need to give you orders, I’m here to help and I’ll do whatever you need me to. This is your investigation Magnus. Are you okay with our assistance?”

Some of the tension in Magnus seemed to dissipate at Alec offering their help. It probably helped knowing that he wasn’t going to have to get retribution for this child’s murder alone. “Of course, thank you, Alexander.”

***

They had split off their separate ways almost five hours ago. They had nothing. Magnus and Alec had been around the city looking into leads on mundane that had recently had peculiar children. Alec hadn’t realised how many warlock children were born every year and truly, how few survived.

It was alarming. Magnus seemed unfazed by the number of his kind that died in infancy, but by his words earlier, Alec knew that Magnus must have seen many of his kind die in his lifetime. It was both sad and ironic, that these children that were supposed to be immortal, live for centuries, but so few made it into adulthood.

From what Magnus had revealed about himself the first time they met at his party for the Chairman, he knew that Magnus had been lucky to survive childhood himself, when his mother killed herself when she realised what he was and how his step father had tried to kill him. Magnus could well have ended up the same as one of these children.

Alec shuddered at the thought.

Children should not fear for their lives because of their lineage.

Alec was now looking through records on demon activity over the last two years, where a demon could have popped up to narrow down their search for the mundane mother.

They hadn’t found anything useful, nothing that could help find where the child came from. Magnus was trying to trace the child’s magic, find the path he came from. It seemed useless. But the determination on his boyfriends face and the memory of the mutilated child was enough to make his chest ache.

So, Alec picked up another document and kept looking.


	2. Unexpected Guests

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, sorry for the delay on this chapter. I hope to be uploading on a more regular schedule from now on. Hope you all enjoy.

It had been three days since the warlock child had been found. They were all in Magnus’ loft, trying to find a lead. They still had nothing. Magnus had no luck trying to track the child’s magic. He said it was like something was blocking his magic. It worried Alec. It worried them all. Jace and Clary found nothing at the scene, the place had been stripped of anything to mark who or what had been there.

Magnus had looked distraught at hearing that. Alec thought it made sense. He was the High Warlock of Brooklyn, so he supposed that Magnus felt responsible for the child. Alec did.

Isabelle had been to as many of her contacts that she could think of. None of them knew the warlock child or had ever seen him. Quite essentially, they were screwed. It didn’t seem like they would get justice for the little green warlock. That didn’t mean that they were going to give up though.

Whoever had done this was hiding their tracks well.

“Alec, you’re going to need to head back to the Institute soon. We have the Clave members coming for a few days remember? Mom said that we need to be ready for them and that you need to make a good first impression.” Jace looked annoyed at having to bring it up and stop the search, but he guessed there really was nothing to be done. If they backed out and didn’t show, it could be seen as a sign of neglect from Alec to his position. If Alec lost his position and influence, it would cause havoc among the Downworlders if he were replaced by a bigoted Clave member.

None of them truly wanted to see that.

Alec looked at Magnus and saw the resignation on his face. He looked weary, but said, “Go, Alexander. We both know how it would end if you didn’t show. I can handle this.”  
Alec leaned over and gave his boyfriend a chaste kiss before heading toward the door, his parabatai at his heels. Clary and Izzy seemed to decide they were staying to help Magnus; which Alec could admit he was grateful for.

***

Arriving at the Institute, Alec could see that their guests hadn’t yet shown up. He was glad. He didn’t feel like dealing with angry Shadowhunters. He knew they would strike at him every chance they got for no other reason than he was gay and in a relationship with a warlock. As far as they were probably concerned that was enough for him to be stripped of his runes, never mind have his position taken away.

He was used to it, but it didn’t make the backlash any less damaging.

He also wasn’t looking forward to shutting down the gossip that would no doubt arise about the warlock child. It still bothered him that they didn’t have a name for the poor kid and he was mostly referred to as the ‘dead warlock child’. It didn’t sit well with him. He wasn’t sure he was going to be able to stomach the things he might hear during this meeting.

Alec walked into his office, where his mother was sitting opposite his desk. She looked every bit the warrior she was, but she smiled when she saw him.

“Alec. Glad that you’re here. The guests from the Clave will be here in an hour, so you have a little time to prepare.”

“Thank the Angel, I had completely forgot they were coming,” he admitted sheepishly.

His mother looked a little annoyed that he would forget something so important, but then a look of understanding crossed her features. “You’re still looking for the person that murdered the warlock child, aren’t you?”

“Of course I am. I’ll stop looking when they’re found. Until then, I don’t want to take the chance of anymore children dying.”

“Good. I’m proud you’re taking your job so seriously.” His mother didn’t look surprise by his admission, more like she had expected it. “Now, you need to know who is going to be here, what position they hold and why they’re here,” she handed him a file that he assumed contained the aforementioned information. “Everything you need to know is in here. Read it and I’ll see you in an hour.”

With that she was gone, and he opened the file. He noticed some names he recognised. Some he was definitely wary of and he hoped he wouldn’t have to speak to them for long. He also knew he wasn’t likely to get what he wanted. Most of the people that came to these, were here to make alliances, strengthen the connections between the different Institutes. He doubted they actually cared about alliances with him, they were more than likely going to scrutinise every move he made so that they could complain to the Clave about his lacking leadership.

He would prove them wrong.

***

Alec sat at the head of the table in the meeting room. He could feel all eyes on him and he had to fight the urge not to fidget. He hated being the centre of attention, that was something he preferred to leave to Jace and Izzy. They loved being in the spotlight, where he was happy to fade into the shadows in the background. Admittedly it was a lot harder for him to do that now. He had reasons for eyes to linger on him as they did. He had outed himself in front of most of the Clave while in Idris. He was dating an extremely powerful warlock and not just any warlock, Magnus Bane. To most, the man was an enigma, a walking source for curiosity. His parents were ex circle members; he was parabatai with the boy raised by Valentine. So yeah, he guessed they had reasons to stare at him. That didn’t make him any more comfortable with it.

Alec cleared his throat, “I’m Alexander Lightwood. While you’re staying at the Institute, you’ll be required to help on current missions and cases. For the duration of your stay here, you’ll be answering to me, as Head of this Institute. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me or another member of my team at any time. You’ll be shown to your quarters after this introductory meeting.” Alec wanted nothing more than to get out of here. He didn’t have to cover more than who he was, what they would be helping on and where they would be staying, and he didn’t plan to answer more than that. He glanced around the table, taking in the faces of his new guests, “Does anyone have any questions?”

It was quiet for a few moments, before a young man, maybe in his early 20’s spoke up. He had blonde hair and brown eyes, he was buff and even sitting down, he looked tall. He recognised the boy from the file, as Adrian Whitelaw. “Are you looking into the dead warlock child?”

“Adrian.” The name next to his said with a clear edge to his voice. They looked similar and Alec assumed that this was Adrian’s father. “Don’t be foolish. Alexander is the Head of the Institute; he doesn’t have time to deal with silly little Downworlders. It’s not as if it’s a priority.”

Alec saw red. This is what other Shadowhunters thought when a Downworlder was killed. That it wasn’t important enough to be investigated. That the child didn’t deserve justice for his death. Glancing at Adrian, Alec noticed he looked irritated at his fathers’ response.

Alec steeled himself and pushed his emotions to the side as he said, “Actually Mr Whitelaw, you’ll find that we are investigating the murder of the child. It is currently our top priority and I expect it to be treated as such. A child was murdered.”

Mr Whitelaw looked disgusted, as if he couldn’t fathom why it would matter. He said as much. “A warlock child was killed. It means there will be less of them. If anything, it’s something to be happy about.”

Alec was silently seething. He didn’t allow it to show and said as calmly as he could, “That is quite enough, Mr Whitelaw. You do not have to like the way I run my Institute, but it is the way I run it. And if that means I wish to use my resources to track down the murderer of a child – Nephilim, Downworlder or mundane – then that is what I will do.” Alec took a steading breathe, “Now, are there any other questions?”

***

It was nearing three am when Magnus heard the door to his loft open and felt Alec breach his wards. He was lying on the sofa, glass of wine in hand, Chairman Meow curled into his side.

He looked up as Alec closed the door. Alec looked exhausted, as though he had gone a few rounds with a demon. He was struggling to keep his eyes open and his posture was slouched and tucked in on himself.

“Alexander. Are you okay?” Magnus asked as he made room for his boyfriend to sit, disturbing the Chairman in the process, who glared at him before stalking off. Alec sat down next to him and curled into his lovers’ side.

Alec tucked his head into the crook of Magnus’ neck and sighed. “I’m fine. The Shadowhunters at the Institute wouldn’t stop asking question upon question. They haven’t even been here twenty-four hours and I can already feel them looking for ways to get rid of me.”

Magnus ran his hand through Alec’s hair and felt the tension ease from him slightly. “Don’t worry, darling. They won’t be able to find a reason for you to lose your position. You’re good at your job and you’re an amazing leader.”

“Thank you, Mags.”

Staring down at his sleepy Shadowhunter, Magnus felt his heart melt. “Come on, love. Let’s get you to bed. We’ve got a long day tomorrow.”

***

Alec was awake before he had even processed what the noise that disturbed him was. Being a Shadowhunter meant acting before you processed. If you didn't, it could cost your life. Alec wasn’t particularly on board with the idea with giving up his life for being ill prepared. As it happened though, his life was not in any immediate danger. The door to the loft was just being knocked, a quiet sound over the rain pounding outside.

Feeling movement beside him, he realised he had woken Magnus, who was blinking blearily up at him. “Alexander, what is it?” he asked, stifling a yawn into his fist.

Alec opened his mouth to reply, but before he had the chance to explain, the rapping at the door came again, sounding louder than before, more urgent.

They both moved to their feet, walking cautiously to the door. Alec looked at him skeptically,  
“Expecting company, Mags?”

Magnus, looking rightly put out at the thought, rubbed his eyes and with a sigh, reminded Alec that he was the High Warlock of Brooklyn and that people often did not give a damn what time it was when they came calling.

The knocking sounded again and this time they heard a small voice shouting, muffled through the heavy wood, “Please! Please, open the door!”. Exchanging looks of disbelief and alarm, they moved to open the door and looked on in shock at the scene before them.

There, standing on Magnus’ doorstep, were two children, looking distraught and outright terrified.

The children were soaked through with rain water, like they had been dragged through Edom and back. But Alec forced himself to look past that. He looked at the children closer. The elder boy was small and slight, maybe five or six in age, with tan skin, dark hair and big brown eyes. He was holding a younger child, a boy of about three. The boy had blue skin and navy hair. He was unconscious. A Shadowhunter and a warlock, too young to be on their own.

And the warlock child was dying.

Blood flowed freely from his blue skin, his skin getting paler by the second.

The older boy looked at Alec pleadingly, before sobbing out, " Please, help us."

It only took a second for them to spring into action.

“Get him on the table,” Magnus demanded, ushering the children inside and running around, pulling out jars and bags, before turning to the older boy and asking, “What happened to him?”

The boy fumbled, looking for all the world like he would never talk again. His eyes were glued to the young warlock laid out on the table, where Magnus was starting his diagnosis.

Alec kneeled down next to the boy and put his hand on his shoulder. “You need to tell us what happened so we can help. Can you do that?” Alec tried to make his voice as soft and open as he could, so he didn’t scare the boy.

The little boy looked as though he had been snapped out of a daze. He looked at Alec and nodded his head. “It was a man; I-I don’t know what he was. We were messing around in Papa’s library and we knocked over some of his things. Then the man came and he seemed angry. He went after Max and I couldn’t stop him.”

“It’s okay, little one. I’m sure your friend will be okay. Let’s go to the other room and we’ll let my friend work.” Alec tried to lead the child in the direction of Magnus’ bedroom, but his eyes widened and he all but threw himself in the direction of the warlock. Gripping on to the child’s little blue hand, he vehemently shook his head, “No, I’m not leaving him. I’ll go somewhere else when I know he’s better.”

Magnus glanced at Alec and he knew that Magnus wanted to spare this Shadowhunter the pain of possibly seeing his friend die. As hard as Magnus was working, his magic sparking and flowing, the potions he had set aside for emergencies like these, Alec knew it was a possibility the child - Max, as he had been called - would still die.

“Okay, how about you talk to me then? What’s your name?” Alec figured if he couldn’t get him out of the room, he could at least try to distract him from what was happening with Max.

The little boy looked down and his brown eyes were shiny. “Rafael. My name’s Rafael.”

“It’s nice to meet you Rafael. I’m Alec.” He handed Rafael a tissue and let the boy wipe his eyes.

“I know. You’re the Head of the New York Institute.” Alec was so surprised to hear him mention his title, that he didn’t have time to respond before the boy continued, “And he’s your boyfriend, Magnus Bane.”

Alec expected the child to look confused about him having a boyfriend and not a girlfriend, but he didn’t comment on it. Instead, he just nodded. “Yeah, he is. He’s very good at his job.”

“Mr Bane?” Rafael looked hesitant to speak to the High Warlock.

“Yes, Rafael?” Magnus asked distractedly. Max was losing blood fast and even Alec could see his magic draining.

“Please save him. Please save my brother.”

Magnus paused for a split second, obviously caught on the word ‘brother’ as Alec was, then continuing his work; he said without looking back at the young Shadowhunter, “I will do everything I can, I promise.”


End file.
